Oxford Announces New COVID Vaccine For Mutant Strains By Autumn

Scientists from Oxford University have said they are confident that a new coronavirus vaccine for mutant strains will be available by autumn.

Director Sir Mene Pangalos has revealed that Oxford scientists and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca are already working to develop a new vaccine, comfiriming that they are aiming to have something ‘ready by the autumn’.

This announcement comes after scientists found mouting evidence to suggest the current vaccine might be less effective when protecting against mutant strains of the virus.

Work is very quick [on adapting jabs for mutations]. Then there’s manufacturing to do, and a small scale study.

All of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use.

This news comes after the team received a huge boost to their vaccine development following a study suggesting the jab can cut transmission by up to two-thirds. It was found that a single dose could prevent 76% of serious illnesses for three months, rising to 82% after a second dose.

I think the actual work on designing a new vaccine is very, very quick because it’s essentially just switching out the genetic sequence for the spike protein, so for the updated variants. Then there’s manufacturing to do and then a small-scale study.

All of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use rather than for having the clinical trials run.

It’s anticipated that this update could be used either as a booster for those who have already had a different vaccine or that it could be used on its own for those who have not yet been vaccinated.